


What Happened in Divination

by Hufflepuff0220



Series: Everyone has their own HPHM universe, this one is mine. [4]
Category: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Light Angst, Not Really?, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:42:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27637694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hufflepuff0220/pseuds/Hufflepuff0220
Summary: Sixth-year student Talbott Winger dislike having the girl who broke his heart a few months earlier, and her new boyfriend, being on the same class with him in Divination.He despise it because that means he had to see them being together often with his own eyes.Yet, to his surprise, it was him who was paired with her as a study partner for the whole year ahead by the professor.Talbott comes to the conclusion that this must be the second chance he gets.With that in mind, Talbott slowly begin to do everything he can, to win back her heart.
Relationships: Jae Kim/Player Character (Hogwarts Mystery), Talbott Winger/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Everyone has their own HPHM universe, this one is mine. [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1877911
Comments: 16
Kudos: 10





	1. Palmistry

* * *

_It gets harder every day, but I can't seem to shake the pain // It's written all over my face, I can't function the same // I wish you'd understand // Wish that we'd have known // And I know one day you'll see, nobody has it easy / I still can't believe you found somebody new / I wish you the best, I guess // I wish we gave it one more try._   
_John Legends – Everybody Knows_

* * *

It’s the first Divination class for all the sixth-year students of Hogwarts.  
Talbott was sitting quietly at the corner of the class while reading his book when he heard her voice from a far.  
He raised his head and found her walking into the class together with her new lover, Jae Kim.  
A discomfort come up inside him at the sight of them, so Talbott shifts his gaze back to the book in front of him.  
Nevertheless, Talbott is quietly listening to the laugh of her, the girl who once were his, when she's conversing with her new boyfriend.  
 _Well, at least she’s happy._  
Talbott smiles bitterly while thinking to himself and drowned himself back to his book.  
Not long after, Professor Trelawney comes inside the class and starts her lecture.  
Talbott was solemnly listening to the introduction Professor Trelawney’s giving and making a note about things on his parchment.  
“Okay, that’s all that you need to know. Now, I'm going to pair you up to be study partners in my class for a whole year ahead. If you hear your name being called, please raise yourself and find an empty table to sit with your partner.” Professor Trelawney ended her introduction and make an announcement to which replied by groans from the students.  
"Can't we choose our own study partner, professor?"  
Talbott heard some girl question their professor.  
“This is my class arrangement, dear.” Professor Trelawney smiled and started to call the name of his classmates.  
One by one, his classmates started to sit with their assigned partner.  
Then, Talbott heard her name, his ex-lover, being called.  
To his own surprise, it was his name, the one Professor Trelawney summoned after that.  
“Is Mr. Winger not here?” Professor Trelawney was looking around the classroom when nobody was coming forward when she brought up the name.  
“I’m here, professor.” Talbott raised his hand, his eyes were looking to the girl standing next to their teacher.  
“Oh. You sit alone, Mr. Winger? Then you could sit there, miss.” Professor Trelawney points her finger to where Talbott was sitting at, asking for the girl to go there.  
Talbott stares at her while she was on her way to his table.  
He felt a sharp gaze sent by someone so he glanced to the direction of the gaze was felt coming from.  
His eyes met Jae’s, who’s looking at him with a strong dislike.  
“Your current boyfriend is looking here all the time.” Talbott commented to her as soon as she sits in front of him while his eyes were still staring sharply toward Jae.  
She was rolling her eyes at him when Talbott finally looking at her.  
“Hi to you too, Talbott.” She greets Talbott nonchalantly while putting her books on the round table in the middle of them.  
“How’s your summer?” She asked him.  
“Good, I suppose.” Talbott replied, finally looking to her eyes.  
“And you?” Talbott replied to her pleasantries, he shifts his gaze to the book in front of him.  
“Well enough.” She retorted.  
The conversation was interrupted by Professor Trelawney explanation about Palmistry.  
"May I?" Talbott asked, he outstretched his hand with palms up, asking her to extend hers to be read off.  
She outstretched her hand while glancing at Jae, who currently looking at her way, again.  
Talbott lips started to form a smile when she finally put her hand on his palms.  
A strange warmth sneaks into his heart, for having her hand to hold again, even if it's only for this class assignment.  
“I think I’m going to like this class.” Talbott looking at her meaningfully.  
She seems speechless by his comment, making Talbott let out a chuckle on her.  
They spent the entire time on the class holding hands, reading each other's palms.  
“I foresee you failed the class if you don’t focus.” Professor Trelawney said to her when she’s checking their table.  
“Like I wouldn’t know that.” She murmured when Professor Trelawney walked away to the other tables.  
Talbott smiled at her, he could sense that she was nervous around him.  
 _So, my presence still affecting you…_  
Nearing the end of class, Talbott ‘s intentionally caressing her heart line using his thumb gently then smile at her before he finally let go of her hand.  
Soon after that, she was looking at her boyfriend, making Talbott drown in jealousy when seeing they smiled at each other the moment their gaze met.  
Talbott knew that boyfriend of her will approach their table immediately after class.  
Not willing to see them together, Talbott rises from his chair and soon walks away after Professor Trelawney dismissed the class.  
“See you at Transfiguration.”  
He crossed path with Jae on his way out and the two of them stared at each other displeasingly.  
Talbott continues his walk exiting the class, with no desire for looking back.


	2. Tessomancy

* * *

_Colors of you, red and then blue / I know I get insecure 'cause I've got some shit that you see right through / We're kinda the same, no one's to blame / I still believe in us // I could see the light in the dark // Holding on forever / Hurts for now, gets better / We're still good together._   
_DNCE – Still Good_

* * *

A few weeks passed since their first time partnered up in Divination.  
She begins to open up to Talbott after some time of working together.  
They casually joking and throw sarcasm at each other again, just like they used to, long before they went on dates, and far before they started to avoid each other and go on separate ways.  
Like today, when Professor Trelawney asked the class to make a report about Divination derived from information they could gather from reading The Quibbler.  
“Why are we reading this? And what on earth is a Crumple-Horned Snorkack?” Said Talbott with a very puzzled face.  
“So you will not be depending on your ‘eagle eyes’ and trained your ‘inner eyes’… Looking in depth… Of what’s inside…” She make puns of Talbott and exaggerated the way she speaks while waving around her fingers in front of Talbott’s face, acting like she was reading his minds.  
Talbott laughs at her action.  
“You sound and look stupid.” He jeered at her while letting out a chuckle.  
“Watch your mouth, the horoscope column in The Quibbler said that you should be careful of saying things as it will bring you trouble if you aren’t careful.” She puckered up and put one her hand on the side of her mouth when she whispered the words to Talbott from across the table.  
Her other hand was pointing the article on The Quibbler like that was the most precious information of the century.  
Talbott snorted.  
“Since when you believed those nonsensical things? You know we don’t need a horoscope column to know that, it’s common sense.” Talbott said with amused face.  
She grinned at him.  
“Seriously, whoever wrote this column, is a swindler.” He added, chuckling at her.  
“I’m sure there’s a shred of truth in here somewhere, Mr. Winger. You should always think positive. Now, lets finish our tea, shall we?” She replied to Talbott, arranging herself in a graceful manner, pretending like she was a lady who was having her afternoon tea.  
Talbott can’t help but laugh at her doing.  
All of sudden her expression changed when she looked pass Talbott.  
“Professor Trelawney is coming over here!” She whispered to him and quickly snatch Talbott’s cup and put her own in front of him before maintaining her act like she's interpreting the tea leaves and matching the meaning with the book in front of her.  
“Hello, dear. I see you both having fun here. Did you find anything interesting from your partner cup of tea?” Professor Trelawney talked to both of them when she arrived from behind Talbott.  
She was directing her gaze on Talbott when she asked her question.  
Talbott quickly raised her cup of tea from the table and stares at the bottom of it.  
His mind is trying to work something up so Professor Trelawney would let them off the hook from being caught playing around on her class.  
From the corner of his eyes, Talbott could see she’s holding her laugh so badly.  
“You will pay for this.” Talbott mouthed his threat without sound, making her to stick out her tongue and mocked him when she knew for sure Professor Trelawney was not paying attention toward her before grinning at his bad luck.  
“So, what's on it, dear?” Professor Trelawney queried Talbott again and now peeked into the cup he was holding.  
“Um… I see an oval figure… with something on the very top of it, like a pointy hat…” Talbott furrowed his eyebrows, wishing that this would be enough to satisfy the quirky professor standing next to his side.  
“That’s an acorn, dear. Do you know what that’s mean?” Professor Trelawney asked him again.  
“A windfall.” Talbott answered.  
He happens to study well and read the divination book though he didn’t believe anything it said.  
“Correct. A windfall, an unexpected gold. You did your works.” Professor Trelawney seems happy by it, she patted Talbott shoulders before she shifts her attention toward another table.  
“Wow, you’re not in Ravenclaw for nothing.” Soon after the professor away, the girl in front of Talbott praising him yet at the same time she let out a small mocking chuckle at him.  
“You’re the one who played around and I’m the one who gets the consequence. What a fair world.” Talbott glowered, making her to burst in laughter.  
“That, my friend, is your windfall.” She grinned mirthfully while looking into Talbott eyes before starts to write down her report.  
A warm feeling sneaks into Talbott heart when he heard that she considered him to be her friend again, making him to form a smile on his face at the sight of the entertained girl whose now humming while graving her parchment.  
 _Well, that's enough, at least for the current time…_


	3. Cartomancy

* * *

_I tried to catch you but we’re always on the move // Feeling kinda tempted and I’m pouring out the truth / Just fading out these talkers’ cause now all I want is you // I ain’t frontin’ my intention // Got no plans to make it stop // So come over here and sit next to me / We can see where things go naturally / Just say the word and I’ll part the sea / So come over here and sit next to me / It’s alright._  
_Foster The People – Sit Next To Me_

* * *

As usual, Talbott arrived early at Divination class.  
He goes to one of the bookshelves on the corner, choosing one of it to be read on while waiting for Professor Trelawney lecture to start.  
He was walking toward a vacant table when she arrived at the class with her boyfriend arms wrapped around her shoulders.  
Talbott tries to act indifferently seeing them together, focusing himself to his reading, since he still feels unpleasant at the sight of her together with someone else.  
“Morning.” She chirped happily when she greets Talbott and sits across his table.  
“Someone’s on a high spirit today. What did you eat for breakfast this morning?” Talbott replied her greetings without raising his head from the book he reads.  
“I don’t remember, I ate a lot.” She answers like she doesn’t care of what’s Talbott thinking of her image.  
Yet that was exactly what catch Talbott’s attention, making him getting the itch to make a comment.  
He looked up from his book and stare at her.  
“What?” She asked, stopping her doing, rummaging through her bag, when she notices Talbott is looking at her.  
“Gluttony girl.” Talbott smirked, making her to roll her eyes at his words.  
“Having a full tummy is important for growth you know.” She looks at him with a witty face while raising her arms, posing as if she’s a bodybuilder showing up muscles.  
Talbott chuckled at her weird pose, she was grinning too by their interaction.  
“You’ll always look beautiful for me though, no matter how dunce your action is.” Talbott subtly praised her after his small laugh has stopped.  
He decided to show his affection a bit more openly, since the note with a Gobstone he sent when there’s an outdoor celebration magic happening at Hogwarts a while ago was being brushed off by her.  
She didn’t give any respond during the event to him and went on a date with that hoodie guy like there’s nothing she needs to be concerned about.  
Talbott was waiting curiously for what will her reaction be, his eyes were looking over her very closely.  
She was staring back at Talbott with a quiet manner.  
All of sudden, she puts her palm on Talbott’s forehead.  
Talbott flinched, her action surprises him.  
“Are you having a fever?” She asked while her other palm is on her own forehead.  
She seems wondered if they had the same normal body temperature.  
Talbott chuckled and gives his concentration back to the book in front of him to conceal his sudden nervousness at the unexpected contact of their skins.  
“I’m sure healthy as ever.” He can't help feeling gleeful at her concern that she shows for him, a close-to-never thing she did ever since they broke up.  
She looked at him with a leery eye.  
“Then, did you just low-key flirts me?” She asked.  
Talbott halted his movement of flipping away the pages of his book.  
His mind worked vastly to find words in response for her question.  
He doesn’t want her to pull away, but he really wants her to at least put his feeling into consideration.  
_Well, whatever. She already notices anyway…_  
“I did.” Talbott look up to her, a slight smile appearing on his face while his eyes gazing at her adoringly.  
She seems taken aback, clearly didn’t expected that Talbott would honestly say out loud what’s on his mind, something he never did back when they were still seeing each other.  
After a while, she suddenly slaps her cheeks, drops her jaw, and squinted her eyes.  
“Crikey. You’ve become cheesy. It cringes me.”  
She then grinned at Talbott after making those weird gestures.  
Talbott smiled, knowing that she was intentionally being silly to make things not become awkward between them after what he just said.  
_She doesn’t pull away. That’s a good sign…_  
Not long after, Professor Trelawney greets the students and starts the lesson while handing pack of cards for the students that sits on the front, asking them to pass it on to every tables in the class.  
“Everyone have the cards? Okay then, allow me to explain your task for today lesson.” She started her lecture.  
Soon after the explanation from Professor Trelawney ended, all the students in the class starts to shuffle their pack of cards.  
“You can’t beat me, I’ve got eagle eyes.” Talbott tries to make a pun about himself, making her to giggle.  
“Well, that might mean an imminent defeat in my future.” She retorted and smiled at him before started to shuffle her own cards then tries to read the meaning of it with befuddlement.  
As minutes passed, Talbott notice that she’s starting to peek into his cards.  
“Eyes on your own cards.” Talbott commented at her gestures.  
“But my cards aren’t speaking anything to me.” She muttered, looks uninterested.  
“Well, don’t expect too much from it because according to these, I’m already dead.” Talbott snickered and rolled his eyes while showing the cards on his hands, make her to let out a laugh when she sees the expression on his face.  
“Just make something up. Professor Trelawney likes those better anyway.” Talbott suggest her to do like he does.  
“Yeah, I know. Just need to doodle something...” She starts to move her quill and write something on her parchment reluctantly.  
As time passed, Talbott notice that she still carried away in her own world as she was shuffling her cards in an unenthusiastic way.   
Talbott faintly smiles, he knew she was bored.  
Talbott reached into his bag and put something near her hands.  
It’s Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, her favourite snack during classes.  
She looks at Talbott with a confused face.  
“You want some? You seem to fancy that thing. Somehow every time I see you, you were munching those beans.” Talbott was gesturing her to open the package and eat the beans.  
“I can’t accept this.” She said, glancing at Jae conversing with Chiara, who’s surprisingly not paying attention to the fact that his girlfriend was being courted by her ex-boyfriend.  
“Who said I give those to you? You clearly heard I said, ‘You want some?’. It means I’ll share it with you, I never said all of it is for you.” Talbott sneered.  
He actually bought it only for her, but maybe talking in a sugary way to her twice in a row for a day was too much.  
Worried that she will take steps back from their newly recovered friendly relationship, Talbott decided to cover it with his snarky comments.  
Seems being sarcastic suits him better.  
She sulked and widened her eyes at Talbott.  
“You don’t have to said it like that. You’re being harsh, you know.” She grabbed the package, opened it rashly, took a handful of the beans, and shoved it into her mouth.  
_Damn, I pissed her off._  
Talbott stiffen, he doesn’t know what to say or do.  
He just stared at the girl in front of him, chewing the candies inside her mouth viciously.  
After a while, she outstretched her hand to Talbott, making him to be the one who look confused.  
“Open your hand.” She demanded.  
Talbott opened his hand cautiously, still wary about what to do for amend for souring her mood.  
“You know that when we’re low on sugar, we tend to get irritated easier? Maybe that’s the case with us now…” She dropped a few beans on Talbott opened palm.  
Talbott glanced at the beans on his hand and looked up to see her.  
She seems to be in a better mood after a few times throwing those things into her mouth.  
“You probably right.” Talbott finally muttered his response and followed her path, putting those beans into his mouth.  
They write their own parchment and munching the beans in silent.   
After a while, Talbott heard a low sound coming from her.  
She was humming, enjoying the flavour inside her mouth.  
“Thank you, by the way. Now I prominently see a cavity on my teeth at the nearest future.” She joked.  
Talbott smiles with relief hearing what she said.  
Yet, he burst out laughing soon after when he looked up to see her as she intentionally shows him the candy remains sticking on her teeth.  
“Looks like my cavity premonition will come faster than I expected.” She noted while busy searching for something to shift those sticky things in her mouth.  
“Just brush your teeth, you lousy girl.” Talbott snickered at her in between his laugh, definitely amused by her act.  
Not taking his comment into consideration, she shamelessly cleans her teeth using a stick and a mirror which Talbott wondered from where those things came.  
“Blimey, now you really have no shame.” He chortled and shook his head.  
“Why should I? It’s just you.” She shrugged and continue her doing then grin widely to show him her teeth again.  
“You really are one peculiar girl.” Talbott chuckled.  
_Thank Merlin, she doesn’t mad at me anymore..._  
Talbott thinks to himself as he finished writing his insights on the parchment in front of him.  
Not long after, Professor Trelawney announce that anyone who finished their report can leave the class right away even though there still about fifteen minutes left before class ended.  
Talbott actually had finished his report and he want to collect it firstly in an attempt to not have to see her boyfriend coming over to their table.  
But, considering of what just happened, he changes his mind.  
He decided to wait until she finished her report, prolonging the time he could stay near around her, making sure that their friendly-yet-still-fragile relationship has not partake a detour.  
Talbott silently observed her figure, pretending he was still writing his report.  
“Finished!” She lifts her parchment up in the air and stare proudly at her work.  
Talbott chuckled, seeing her action.  
“Give it to me, I’ll collect it to Professor Trelawney along with mine.” He outstretched his hand and let his palm open, waiting for her to hand over her report.  
“Why? I could do it by myself.” She replied and gaze dubiously at him.  
“Yeah, and let the professor knew for sure that your mouth was busy munching during class by those things on your teeth.” Talbott jeered.  
She quickly closes her mouth with her palm.  
“Are there still beans left on my teeth? I swear I already shift all of the leftover…” She handed over her report, snatch the mirror, and gets herself busy looking at her teeth again.  
“See it by yourself.” Talbott held back his smile.  
“Hey, you’re the one who made my teeth looked like this.” She glared at him.  
“No I’m not. I only share you those beans, I never tells you to gobbled almost everything by yourself.” Talbott defended himself, secretly laugh inside his heart at the sight of her getting busy cleaning up her teeth while rolled up both of their written insights together on his hands.  
She rolled her eyes, making Talbott chortled.  
“Anyway, like I’ve said earlier, you will always look beautiful in my eyes, even with all those beans sticking on your teeth.” He mocked her with an implied compliment then laugh at her again when he sees she was glaring at him with all her might.  
Talbott lightly tapped the parchments roll in his hand against her shoulder and rise himself as soon as he heard Professor Trelawney dismissing the class.  
“See you at Transfiguration, gluttony girl.” Talbott grins and gets on his way.  
He handed their parchments to the quirky professor in front of the class then walks to the outside with a cheerful smile blooming on his face.


	4. Crystal Gazing

* * *

_They said bad things happen for a reason / But no wise words gonna stop the bleeding // You got his heart and my heart and none of the pain // Now I’m trying to make sense of what little remains //_ _(One still in love while the other one’s leaving) // (‘Cause when a heart breaks no it don’t breakeven)._  
 _The Script – Breakeven_

* * *

Talbott gets an unexpected view at Divination today, as she was already sitting in class before him, and Jae, the hoodie guy, was nowhere to be seen around.  
“Morning.” Talbott greets her, who was looking out through the window.  
She took a slight glanced at him and looked away again.  
“Hi.” She answered lethargically.  
Talbott sat in front of her and stared at her curiously since she was surprisingly quiet that day whereas she usually recited away unnecessary things to be known to others around or made peculiar humming noises when she’s not talking.  
“What a strange sight I have in here...” Talbott intentionally commented about her unusual silence, trying to get her attention.  
Normally, she’ll immediately replied to his sarcastic remarks.  
But at that time, she just stared at him disinterestedly, let out a long sighed, and looked to the outside again, making Talbott furrowed his eyebrows in bafflement.  
Talbott was about to ask her about what’s causing her peculiar behaviour when Professor Trelawney walked into the classroom so he decided to postpone his question.  
“Good morning students. How was your weekend? I hope everyone was having a great time.” Professor Trelawney greeted everyone in class with a wide smile on her face.  
“It seems to me that each of you already had comprehensive understanding about Cartomancy, so today we’ll moved on to the next lesson, which is Crystal Gazing.” She then continued her preach about the subject while all of the students started to open their Divination book and wrote their notes about the lecture given by the professor.  
“Lastly, each of you should try to strengthen your Inner Eye by exercising your Mundane perception.” Professor Trelawney closed her lecture and asked all of the student to start practicing right away.  
“At least reading tea leaves starts with a nice cuppa.” Talbott grumbled as soon as he squints his eyes towards his crystal ball, trying to see what it foretells him.  
He peeks at her, waiting for her to responded yet nothing happened.  
She just sits still and disinterestedly looking at her ball of fog.  
“Hey. Are you allright?” Talbott decided to ask after a long pause of nothingness from her.  
She stared at Talbott with an indescribable expression on her face.  
“Don’t mind me. I’m just having a sappy mood.” She mumbled before focusing herself to her crystal ball.  
“How could I? Do you need sweets? Do I need to take you to the Hospital Wing? You were uncharacteristically weird since morning, it makes me worried.” So many words from Talbott at one time finally made her turns her attention towards him.  
“Speak to yourself. You’re also uncharacteristically nosy now.” She snarled.  
“Where did all the stoic manliness of yours went off?” She commented with annoyance on her voice.  
“You don't like it? I did learnt my lesson.” Talbott answered vaguely.  
She stared at Talbott, her face shows that she’s questioning his words.  
“You said I need to express how I feel, and that I need to try to come at you first. I am doing it now.” Talbott explained.  
She rolled her eyes upon hearing it.  
“I meant for you to do it back at that time...” She sneered.  
“And what you did was not being expressive, it was being meddlesome.” She added.  
“I regret my mistakes, I’m trying not to repeat it.” Talbott replied to her with his usual deadpan expression.  
She blinked her eyes and looked at him inanimately for a while.  
“Whatever. Do your works, Professor Trelawney was looking over here.” She finally said something.  
She turns her attention back to the crystal ball and seems not wanting to talk anymore so Talbott do the same, practicing the Crystal Gazing course.  
After some time has passed, Talbott starts to steal glances at her.  
She wasn’t noticing at first but not long after, she raised her head and looked straight into Talbott’s eyes.  
“Why are you peeking at me? It’s no use. I see nothing in my balls. Looks like my Inner Eye needs specs.” She was being sarcastic.  
“I'm just wondering. What would happen if I just… dropped it? Is that bad luck?” Talbott was asking her an odd question all of sudden.  
“Pftt. What kind of question is that?” She was trying to hold back her laughter since Professor Trelawney was actually not far from their table.  
 _Good. She’s on a better mood now._  
Talbott efforts to ease her mood seemed working and she started to talk more.  
“If I squint, it almost looks like a face…” She was squinting her eyes very seriously.  
Talbott smiled, he squints his eyes too at his crystal ball.  
“Hmm… I see a mad witch with specs and… Oh, it’s just Professor Trelawney.” Talbott muttered.  
She cackled hearing what Talbott said.  
“Hey. Watch your words. Do you want to get another ‘windfall’?” She reminded him of what happened during one of the Tessomancy study session they had before.  
“Speaking of which, you still owe me for that.” Talbott leered her.  
She just grinned as a response.  
They quickly turn their focus back to their crystal balls when Professor Trelawney passing and stopping by at the student pair next to them.  
During the time the quirky professor conversing with the pair near them, Talbott feels that she was staring at him intently.  
He then raised his head and stare back straight into her eyes.  
Strangely, she wasn’t surprised at all by his sudden movement.  
Seems she was indeed expecting Talbott to look back at her.  
For a while, she keeps looking quietly into Talbott eyes.  
 _She’s staring at me for quite some time now. What does she intending to do?_  
Talbott questioned in his mind while still locking sight with her.  
“It’s good that you’ve opened yourself, but you don’t have to change yourself drastically. You got interesting personality, and your mysteriousness is actually attractive.” She finally uttered something to him when Professor Trelawney had moved away to the farthest table from them.  
Talbott raised his eyebrows at what she was saying, as she's clearly not saying it as a way to make a move on him.  
“And your point in saying that is…?” He queried further, as he doesn’t understand of what the points she was telling him.  
“Nothing. I never had a chance to tell you that. I just want you to know it.” She continued with a strait-laced expression.  
Talbott gets an uneasy feeling creeping into his heart seeing the way she speaks so indifferently to him.  
His guts said it’s better to not says anything so he keeps his silence.  
“Don’t hold on to the past. You’re amazing, you should be with someone who way much better than me.” She added while staring back at her crystal ball.  
Talbott keep looking at her, somehow he senses that she was trying to shut him out, again.  
“Is that what causing the odd silence you have since morning?” He asked.  
“Not really. A part of it, maybe… I don’t know… If you date, I think Jae wouldn’t be overly jealous whenever we’re together for studying and I’ll be at ease to hang out with you anytime. I’m sure I can arrange something up to make him know you better, that you’re a good person. I should make you meet someone great, you should be together with someone else…” She mumbled while looking down to her crystal ball.  
Talbott expression turned grim after hearing everything she said, and she seemed to notice the change of his mood when she looked up from her crystal ball and see Talbott’s face.  
They stared each other in silent for quite some time before she opened her mouth to speak first.  
“Just forget everything I said.” She tried to retract her words when she realised what she just blurted out was souring Talbott’s mood.  
“Let’s just finished our report. Class will end soon.”  
“It’s a ball of fog, what it could tell me?” Talbott replied in an ominous tone as he coldly looked away from her and stared unrelentingly at his crystal ball.  
He knew she was looking at him discomfitingly after that, but the crestfallen he’s feeling forestall him in doing anything to ease up the foul mood between them.  
Not long after, Professor Trelawney dismissed the class.  
Everyone was making their way out from the classroom while Talbott and her just stay put on their table, staring at each other with unreadable expression on their face.  
She ended up being the first to stand between the two of them and already walked a few steps away when she suddenly turned around and stares apologetically at Talbott.  
“Look, I’m sorry. Don’t put all my nonsense into your heart, I’m not with my right mind.” She spat out her words at once.  
Talbott just looking at her intensely.  
“That’s all, I guess… I’ll see you at Transfiguration, I suppose?” She muffled her words uncertainly and left without saying anything more because Talbott didn’t responded with words at all.  
Talbott stared until she was out of his sight with unyielding gaze.  
 _Even with you telling me all that, you won’t see me trying to get over you. I never wanted to…_


	5. Numerology

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With Valentine's Day Ball Quest happening, releasing this chapter seems like out of date as there were some talks about Festival Fun Quest.  
> Let's just blame it on my habit of procrastinating drafts and getting lost while writing. 😅  
> Enjoy reading though.

* * *

_I must have been a fool to love you so hard for so long / So much stronger than before but so much harder to move on // I never did my best to express how I really felt / And now that I know exactly what I want, you found somebody else // My world just feels so cold / And I find myself thinking about the things I could have done // I can't lie, you're on my mind, stuck inside my head / I wanna feel your heart beat for me instead / I just die so much inside, now that you're not there / I wanna feel your heart beat like yesterday._   
_Maroon 5 – I can’t lie_

* * *

Over the past days, all students have been excitedly talking about the upcoming Celebration of Magic at Hogwarts.  
From what Talbott heard, there will be several outdoor classes, a festival, and a dance at the closing ceremony.  
Talbott doesn’t share the same joys with all the other students, he never quite fond of socialising and he even more reluctant during this time since she indicated that she wanted Talbott to be with someone else.  
“Good morning class. I see that everyone is excited for the upcoming festival.” Professor Trelawney greeted the class with her usual cheery yet peculiar manner.  
“Unfortunately, mine will be the same, in this classroom, as usual.”  
Several students groaned, they seemed to take hope for a change of environment.  
“Please calm down dear students, let’s just start the class. For today, we will uncover your destinies through the craft of Numerology. To those wondering, this is not Arithmancy, no matter what Professor Vector says. I will calculate my own Destiny and Life Path numbers. Watch closely.” Professor Trelawney began her lecture.  
Talbott wasn’t really listening, he was staring at the girl who sit in front of him.  
His mind was still fixated on the words she told him several meetings in this class before.  
He remembers that when he was overwhelmed by his crestfallen, he accidentally told Penny about his troubles with the curse-breaker girl when they hung out a few days earlier and ended up being interrogated by the blonde afterward.  
“If that’s what she wants, wouldn’t it be better if you did it? For your own sake too, so that you could be happy too…”  
That’s what Penny told him at that time.  
But Talbott was stubborn.  
He believed that there would be a chance for him if he tried.  
And he decided to wait for her no matter how long.  
“I didn’t realise I’d need math for Divination.” She muttered while taking notes on her parchment.  
Talbott remained silent, he wasn’t sure if she was talking to him or just talking to herself since for the last several meetings she remained silent towards him almost all the time.  
She looked up from her parchment and stared at Talbott.  
 _Oh, so she was talking to me._  
“Isn’t this more Arithmancy thing?” Talbott replied with a save answer, he was being cautious.  
 _I’ve been reckless. I should try not to be too obvious to her._  
“Does that means Numerology is the same as Arithmancy?” She asked again.  
“Who knows?” Talbott shrugged.  
She didn’t ask any further and turned her attention back to the professor’s lecture.  
They focused on the lesson for a while before she commented again.  
“I haven’t done maths in ages.”  
“Tell me about it. I was even surprised that professor Trelawney can do maths. Does that surprise you too?” Talbott tried to prolonged their chat.  
She giggled.  
“You’re mean.”  
Talbott smiled and relaxed a bit as she seemed to be a little friendlier again to him.  
“Speaking of math, it reminds me of birds who likes to learn to count. Guess what’s the subject…”  
Talbott stared weirdly at the girl sitting across him, who had a silly smile on her face.  
“Don’t even try…” He warned.  
“Owlgebra!” She laughed.  
“Lame.” Talbott scoffed but can’t helped to form a smile on his face hearing her pathetic bird puns.  
“Wow. Are you a Mockingbird? ‘Cause you’re being rude right now…” She continued her joke.  
“You should stop.” Talbott started to chuckle while gesturing that Professor Trelawney was coming from her back.  
They two of them pretended to practice the calculation of Numerology when the professor passed by their table.  
Not long after, she started to questioned Talbott again.  
“Can I apply Numerology to any word? What about different languages?”  
“How should I know? Just ask the professor.” Talbott answered shortly, still busy working his tasks.  
“I wonder what my name says about me from this counting…” She muttered to herself now, as Talbott didn’t seem to be giving her a satisfactory response in her opinion.  
“I doubt my birthday says anything about my life.” Again, Talbott just retaliated with a safe answer.  
“You’ve always been so skeptical about Divination. Why did you took this class anyway?” She scoffed.  
“How am I supposed to believe such absurd things? If you must know, based on these calculations…” Talbott picked up his parchment and showed it to her face.  
“… apparently my soul wants interpersonal connections. What rubbish.” Talbott snickered.  
She burst out laughing and accidentally spilled her ink by her abrupt movement.  
Talbott instinctively lifted both their parchments aloft while she suddenly stood and picked all the other things on their table so that they won’t get stained by the flowing ink.  
“Whoops…” Her clumsy attempted in saving their things on the table caused her to tripped over her own robe and fell to the side to where Talbott was.  
“Argh, sorry!” She suddenly jumped out of Talbott’s lap.  
Everyone in class were looking at them and Jae immediately got up from where he was sitting then rushed over to her.  
“What happened? Are you okay?” The Gryffindor boy asked worriedly and took a few items from her hands.  
“I spilled ink on my table and I fell while trying to secure the rest of the stuff on it.”   
Talbott just stared at them while Jae cleared up the spilled ink with a cleaning spell and helped her settled down all the things on her hands back into her table.  
Talbott returned her parchment back when Professor Trelawney asked class to continued their works again when the fuss she made has died down.  
“I’m sorry, I didn’t meant to messed up our table and fell on you.” She apologised to Talbott after Jae walked back to his own table.  
“I know. It’s fine.” Talbott tried to act indifferent but somehow get restless by the feeling of her, sat on his lap with her back against his chest, just a moments ago.  
Her scent was lingering on his robe and somehow it got Talbott more flustered.  
Having her eyes glued at him doesn’t help either, instead it caused slight red streaks appearing on Talbott’s face.  
“Why is this room always so stuffy?” Talbott intentionally tries to divert her attention so she won’t notice his flushing face as he looked away to hid it.  
She blinked for a few times, astonished.  
“Really? I don’t feel that way. Could it be that you’re sick? You do look a little red…” She leaned forward to him and examined Talbott closely.  
Talbott leaned back slightly and tried so hard to not looked into her eyes.  
Yet, seeing his reaction, a mischievous smile appeared on her face, that what’s Talbott see when he glanced a peek at her.  
“You know, you should seek for tweetment if you’re not feeling well, Tal…” She grinned, teasing him with another bird pun.  
Talbott abruptly looked at her as soon as he heard her calling him with the nickname she used when they were more than friends before.  
He was a little uneasy about how to respond but then choose to carefully play along with her.  
Talbott tried to look scornful before he replied.  
“Wow, that lame pun is still on?” He sneered.  
“Why should I stop doing this? It’s fun…” She laughed.  
Talbott shook his head and aimed his focus back on his parchment.  
“Just finish your report quickly, class will end soon.”  
And just like that, the class really ended a couple minutes after.  
She hummed joyfully while clearing up her belongings on their table when Jae approached her.  
“Ready to leave, love?” Jae asked and smiled warmly at her.  
“Yeah. I’m done.” She answered cheerfully.  
Talbott noticed the way she looked up adoringly at Jae, and it brought throbbing pains inside his chest.  
“Bye, Talbott.” She waved her hands delightedly at him before took her boyfriend’s arm and went on her way after Talbott nodded in return.  
Talbott watched her leave, he couldn't help but feeling downhearted at the sight he had seen.  
 _Just when I finally realise exactly what I wanted, you just have to walked happily at the side of somebody else…_


End file.
